Abstract This chapter discusses the history and theory of intellectual property and its ethical, political, and legal foundations. It provides an overview of the U.S. intellectual property system, including discussions of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and ownership of research data. This chapter also examines utilitarian and rights-based rationales for protecting intellectual property and considers some moral objections to intellectual property protections. This chapter reviews some instrumental pieces of legislation and legal cases pertaining to intellectual property and discusses some ethical controversies concerning particular types of intellectual property, such as patents on computer programs and algorithms, DNA sequences, and biological materials.